Aggressively ambitious, the married-couple-slash-business-partner-team of Shawn and Artie Gold always knew they wanted to grow a company to new heights. They didn’t always know the what, or the how.
It didn’t matter. They would go on to prove their shared ambition was enough to get them to the right place at the right time, and the growth would come later.
It started around 2014, when the Golds bought Sparkle Wash Fox Valley, a franchise specializing mostly in truck-washing, and servicing Wisconsin’s Fox Valley – which some may know better as Fox Cities, in Fond du Lac.
“Half of our business is stationary tractor-trailers with 17 guys in there that wash semi-trucks,” Artie Gold says. “Then the mobile side started where our guys would go around and wash trucks. When we bought the business, there was a lot of fleet-washing and house-washing. Then Shawn and I took it over, grew those segments, and grew into the commercial market.”
Over time, they started getting calls to clean large hotels, banks, and industrial buildings.
“We were getting bigger projects where it wasn’t just a guy popping into the lot to wash five trucks,” Artie says. “Now it’s three to four guys at a location all week up in lifts cleaning. It’s exciting.”
In about 10 years, the Golds doubled the business to 35 employees and $3.5 million in sales last year, and opened a second shop in Green Bay.
From trucks to buildings
According to Jim Lucas, a veteran independent sales rep for PROSOCO whose homebase is Chicago, the Golds grew as fast and far as they could with their “huge” automated truck wash operation in Fond du Lac. To fuel their growth goals, they looked to mortar removal and new construction clean-down, but “there’s not much money in that,” Lucas says.
The answer (and money) was in building restoration, and it started in Appleton, Wis. That’s where Sparkle Wash Fox Valley landed their first restoration project with the cleaning of a hotel in downtown Appleton, Wis. With Lucas’ consult, the project was a big success and led the Golds to win a much bigger, flagship restoration project – the CDW building in Appleton.
A five-story limestone building featuring multi-story panels of gold reflective glass, the CDW building represented more than just one job – it was an opportunity to prove themselves in the world of restoration and earn untold future business.
“We get called to wash trucks,
and that’s great. But when we
get called to wash a big building,
I get all excited.”
- Artie Gold, owner, Sparkle Wash Fox Valley
But the Golds already knew the building well. It’s the exact building they’d been warned about it.
“When we purchased the business 10 years ago, the previous owners said, ‘If you ever get called to wash this building, walk away,’” Shawn Gold says. “Of course, last year, we got the call to wash the building, and Artie said, ‘All right, I’ve been waiting for this call.’”
Always up for a challenge, Artie wasn’t deterred by the number of windows on the building, or the prospect of cleaning the limestone without damaging the adjacent, gold-speckled glass.
“We did samples of Prewash/Afterwash, All Surface Cleaner, SafRestorer and Limestone Restorer, and he wound up using Limestone Restorer,” Lucas says. “But then we had to test the glass.”
The Lucas-Gold team determined that with two crew members in lifts doing the cleaning, and one guy on the ground to keep the windows and vegetation wet to protect them from run-off, they would eliminate the need to mask off the glass.
“It worked out great,” Lucas says. “Now they’re bidding all kinds of jobs up there.”
Challenge accepted and now mission complete, Artie couldn’t help but boast about the very feat he was warned against.
“I let them know that I washed that building,” he says.
That opportunity yielded more like it, a source of extreme satisfaction for the Golds.
“I appreciate all the business we have,” Artie says. “We get called to wash trucks, and that’s great. But when we get called to wash a big building, I get all excited.”
“Artie working with Jim (Lucas) allowed us to broaden our horizons and take that opportunity to master a new trade or trades instead of being the ‘me too’ type,” Shawn says. “That drives both of us. We don’t want to devalue our product and our process over price.”
In a growth mindset
With the Golds hyper-focused on growth, they’ve discovered some opportunities by design, and some by chance.
They once earned bonus work due to two building owners competing with one another from across the street.
“There was a company that made equipment for Ford, and across the street was another business, and they fought for good employees on 25 cents an hour,” Artie says.
Vying to attract a workforce, one owner decided to invest in the appearance of the building and called Sparkle Wash Fox Valley for the job. Once the job was done, the Golds got a call from the owner across the street. They wanted their place cleaned now too.
“You’ve just got to ride the wave,” Artie says.
While awaiting that next big wave, the Golds have kept busy preparing their organization for future opportunities by focusing on company culture, industry support, and education to be the best stewards possible for buildings and their owners.
Last year, the Golds committed themselves to rethinking and redefining who they are, and who they want to be.
“We redeveloped our mission statement, core values and brand,” Shawn says. “Our mission statement is to get it exactly right, to provide a high-quality service while building relationships and a strong team.”
This deep-dive bolstered the organization and is already helping to eliminate challenges their competitors are still experiencing.
“Most places are going to say the biggest challenge is finding good help. Not me, not today,” Artie says. “With the changes we’ve made with our mission and core values, our business is not like other cleaning companies. Our business team is like a family, and I’m not just talking the talk. I just hired a window cleaning manager two days ago and he said, ‘I see what you’re talking about. Everyone is so great and so polite.’ I told him that’s what I told you, that it’s just going to take time to truly see it and experience it.”
Good representation
Artie and three staff members for Sparkle Wash Fox Valley joined Jim Lucas recently at the Maypearl Brick Academy in Texas, where another PROSOCO rep (Bob Holmes) educates construction professionals with classroom-style learning and hands-on demos of masonry restoration and cleaning methodology.
Knowing the type of rep support available gave the Golds confidence in their foray into restoration.
“Jim is a master,” Artie says. “I see Jim as a true partner. He comes on the job sites. He picks up the phone. He told me he’d do anything to support us. And he educates me. He’ll keep educating as long as you keep your ears open.”
“We’re really eager to get more opportunities. We’re just going to keep swinging at it. I don’t know what our next goal will be, but we’ll keep knocking them down.”
“That man could easily retire and disappear on a golf course, but he’s here because he loves the trade. I spent two years in masonry, and I feel a connection to masonry. I know Jim does too. I know Jim wakes up every morning just to be part of this trade.”
Shawn adds, “We’re not afraid to try anything because of that support.”
The virtue of helpfulness
Not wanting to be a “me too” business, not wanting to compromise their quality over price, but possessing plenty of ambition to grow, the Golds adopted the Lucas brothers’ philosophy of educating first and selling second, and of being obsessed with doing things right the first time. Which, as it turns out, is an attitude that came naturally.
Being helpful, after all, is what helped them add restoration to their repertoire.
“For the CDW building, it was really about educating the customer and emphasizing that this was an investment,” Artie says. “I told them they could go with a cheaper product or a quicker method, but that meant they’d just be seeing me again in three years. I said, ‘You don’t want to see me for another 10 years,’ and that helped me close the deal.”
The Golds discovered that being thorough is what builds trust and, ultimately, relationships with customers. That’s why, today, they take the time needed to make sure they quote projects accurately and understand the right solutions for each unique building.
“Not a lot of companies want to take that time,” Artie says. “But I see it as something that we can sell. On that project in Appleton, we did several test spots, and so did somebody else. What they did left swirly marks on the limestone. On the other hand, we tested five different locations because we wanted to see what was the best cleaner, and we were able to fix the blemishes. That puts us in a good position.”
It puts them in a great position to tackle whatever lies ahead.
“We’re really eager to get more opportunities,” Artie says. “We’re just going to keep swinging at it. I don’t know what our next goal will be, but we’ll keep knocking them down.”
